Will of the Wisp
by MageNellofGalla
Summary: One-Shot. Maybe that wasn't the day to bring out his new toy. Timing is of all importance when you have friends like Cleon. Kel/Neal pairing. COMPLETELY REVISED.


Kel sat under the maple tree, trying her hand at sewing her own garments. She wiped sweat from her forehead. The noon Sun beat down on everyone in the group. That is, everyone except for Neal.

He was sitting with his legs crossed under the shade of a willow, his lips moving with incoherent words. He was playing with his new toy: a rock engraved with odd symbols. He had said that it was a gift from one of his fellows from university.

Cleon sneaked up on her to sit at her side. "What do you say we have a little fun with our lanky friend?" His eyes shined with mischief. Kel looked up into his grey eyes and nodded, a ridiculous grin plastered to her face. He stood up to execute his plan.

She temporarily put down her work to watch the two, wincing when the needle made contact with her skin.

"Neal!" Cleon bellowed. The brunet page didn't react. "Neal!" he said again. Still, nothing. Cleon approached the much older page under the weeping willow and snatched the rock from his limp hands. "What's this?" he asked, holding it up to inspect it.

Neal glared at his red-headed friend. "That's a very valuable relic," he said in his usual drawl. "And it probably costs more than your brain."

He cocked a copper eyebrow. "What does it do?"

"It does that stuff that only a human of high intellect such as a mage can comprehend," he snapped.

"Well can a human of high intellect comprehend this?" he quipped. "Quick, Faleron! Catch!" As soon as the words left his mouth, the rock was thrown up into the blue sky and landed in the middle of the royal forest.

He bit his lip and looked at the mage glowering up at him. His eyes were burning with anger. He stood and combed his fingers through his hair. "That was a priceless rock!" he moaned, looking at the forest that just enveloped his new toy. "What will I tell my cousin?"

He spun around to face Cleon. "You!" He pointed a finger accusingly. "What did you think you were doing when you threw that? _Certainly_ you calculated the force you'd use and the weight of the rock to determine just how far it went right?"

"I calculated the what?" he asked, scratching his head.

"Oh, you incompetent fool!" Neal wailed, throwing his hands up in the air. He seemed about ready to rip his hair out. But then again, he had always _loved_ theatrics.

"Oh, Neal," Kel said, rolling her eyes. "We'll get it back. I mean, it's barely past noon, we have the whole afternoon to go hunting for it."

But she spoke too soon. The bell rang to call the pages inside. By the sound of it, there was some sort of danger and everyone was expected to get in the palace and stay there until the coast was clear. With a glare at Cleon, Neal ran back to the palace and the rest of the gang followed.

* * *

><p>"What am I supposed to do?" he cried at the dinner table, head in his hands. "They say that there's some sort of green energy coming from the forest. How will I ever get it back now?"<p>

"We'll buy a new one," Cleon said plainly.

Neal looked up. "_Right,_" he drawled, rolling his eyes as he did so. "Because _you_ have enough money!"

"Nealan," Kel scolded. "Think about your precious rock later. Finish your vegetables."

"Yes, mother," he said lazily. He picked up his fork and poked the fried carrots. He stole a glance at Kel to see her glowering. The anxious page frowned and put the orange vegetable in his mouth reluctantly. _I've got to get it back…_

"Hey, guys," he said thoughtfully. "This isn't a good night to spend the evening in my chambers."

"Bu-" Owen opened his mouth to speak but the green-eyed page interrupted him.

"You can spend it in the library tonight. I'm not feeling so good." He looked down.

Owen raised a coppery eyebrow at Kel but she shook her head. "He just wants to mourn his lost relic."

They ate the rest of their dinner in silence, none of them wanting to speak.

* * *

><p>Kel was writing a letter to her family about her welfare when she heard a knock on the door. "Kel?" It was Neal's voice. She sighed and got up to answer the door. "What d'you…" she trailed off when she saw his attire.<p>

He wore a shirt and breeches which weren't that uncommon. It was the black cloak and mask that got her suspicious. "What do you plan on doing?" she asked evenly, trying to hide her shock.

Neal threw his nose up into the air. "_I_ plan on getting my relic back. I'll get my revenge from that airhead Cleon tomorrow. But do you want to come tonight?"

She blinked at him, the only hint that she was taken by surprise. "Neal! We can't leave the palace at night!" Kel said in a hushed tone. "If we get caught-"

"We won't get caught," Neal reassured her.

"Even if we don't get caught, we can die in that forest! If you haven't noticed, immortals are crawling all over the place!" She pursed her lips, the exact picture of a mother scolding a child.

"We can take them." Neal knew this wasn't true. But that artifact was painfully important to his research.

"No, we can't."

"Yes, we can."

"No, we can't."

"Yes, we can."

"I'm not going to do this." Kel crossed her arms over her chest as she glowered at her friend.

"We'll go in and we'll go out," he explained, throwing his hands in the air. "Easy as that."

"What if you get hurt?" she argued.

Neal rolled his eyes. "I'm a healer, aren't I?"

Darn, Kel thought. Wrong words.

"What if we both die?" she tried.

"You don't have faith in my healing skills," Neal accused, nose in the air.

"It's not that, it's just-" He cut her off.

"-that you don't trust me," he finished. "Now the only way to prove that you trust me is to come with me into the woods and get my relic."

Kel sighed. Odds were that Neal would win this fight and by arguing about it further, they would just be wasting time. "Fine. Meet me down at the stables in 10 minutes. If we get caught, Lord Wyldon will take _all_ our sunday afternoons away from us."

"Well then it's a good thing we won't get caught," Neal said, smiling smugly. "Now go and get dressed."

Kel found the green-eyed mage down at the stables. She carried a bow and quiver with her. She also brought her glaive, of course. "Looks like someone's paranoid." Neal was leaning on the stable doors, eating an apple.

"I'm just prepared," Kel said haughtily.

"Let's go." Neal cocked his head to urge her to follow and walked out of the stables.

"Aren't we going to bring the horses?" Kel asked, catching up with him.

"What? And disturb them from their sleep? Isn't that a bit rude?" Neal said.

"Right," she drawled. "Because _you're_ _never_ rude! It's completely against your code!"

He blew air out of his nose haughtily and looked dramatically upset. "Besides, I don't want Peachblossom making another scar." He held up an arm from his previous encounter with the horse.

Kel rolled her eyes but her voice held worry. "I still think this is a very bad idea."

"It is," he agreed. "But you're with me so it isn't _that_ bad of an idea."

Kel chuckled.

They walked in silence until Neal broke it. "Have you heard of the story 'Will o' the Wisp' ?"

"Nope," she said nonchalantly.

"It's short for Will of the Wisp," he informed her. "Want me to tell you about it?"

"No, thank you," she said, obvious dislike in her voice.

"Well, if you insist," Neal said as if he hadn't heard her refuse.

"Legend says that a ghost haunts forests and swamps alike. The ghost's name is Will. He was so wicked that the Black God forbade him from entering the peaceful realms. He asked the Black God for something to keep him warm and he granted wIll one green ember. So Will, with nothing else to do, decided to prank the lost travelers. They would follow Will's green light in hope that the one holding it is someone who can lead them out of the forest. But instead, he leads them into marshes and swamps and leaves them there, more lost than ever. "

"Very interesting. Now how do you suppose we find this rock?" Kel said, cutting the story short.

"I'll say an incantation and if it's nearby, it'll glow," Neal said hastily.

He wanted to finish the story. "Where was I? Oh, right. Travelers get more lost. "

Kel sighed and wiped her face with her hand.

"One day, Will found a pretty girl. He fell in love with her on first sight."

"But he's a ghost!" Kel argued.

"I'm not finished yet," he snapped.

Neal continued the story, "she got lost in his woods and Will led her into a swamp. Instead of leaving her there, he led her out of the woods and kissed her. But Will knew they could never be together so he fled.

"The girl looked for him for months but gave up soon after. On her anniversary of getting lost in the woods, she visited them again. Sure enough, she found that same green light and followed it. When Will saw that it was the same girl, he thought that they actually could be together.

"So this time, he didn't flee. In the process, he found a loop hole in his contract with the the Black God. True love would give him a second chance to live a long, happy life. He became human again and they lived happily ever after."

"Wonderful," Kel said drily. They were deep in the forest and it the moon could only provide so much light. "Say your fancy words so we can get out of here already. And make me a torch or something. It's so dark here."

Neal chuckled and did his bidding. "Don't touch the fire," he said as if talking to a three-year-old.

Kel rolled her eyes and grabbed the branch. "Of course I won't touch the fire. Why would I? Now go. Shoo."

"Oh, fine," Neal said, annoyed. He said something Kel didn't understand and something blue glowed in the distance. "I'll go get it," Neal said. "You stay here and... sing. I don't know." Neal went off to find the source of the blue light.

Kel waited until she couldn't see the blue light anymore. He probably put it in his pocket.

"I got it!" Neal announced. All of a sudden, his green light went out and the wind blew hard enough to make the trees howl and Kel's torch go out. Kel held up her glaive.

"Neal?" she called. She got no answer. A green light appeared yards behind her. "Neal! Why aren't you answering?" Kel asked, putting her glaive down. She still didn't get an answer. Instead, the light went deeper into the forest. "Nealan of Queenscove! What are you doing?" She scolded from afar. It didn't do anything. The light just kept drifting away.

Finally giving up yelling at Neal, she went after him. No matter how fast she ran, there was always at least a meter distance between her and him. Soon, when she saw that they were in some kind of marsh, she thought that the thing she was following wasn't Neal.

"Neal, where are you going?" she said. The light went out. "This isn't funny!" she called, voice a bit shaky. She lifted her glaive but before she could do anything to prevent it, something soft touched her lips. Soon, she realized that they were lips and that someone was kissing her.

The lips tasted of a sweet apple and she found that wanted a bigger bite. But he broke it off too soon, leaving her wanting. Dropping her glaive, she seeked out those lips again and found them. She realized that she didn't know who- or what- was on the other side and pulled back.

"Gosh, Kel," Neal said, rubbing the back of his neck as a blush spread across his face. "If you wanted to say that you liked me, you could've just told me." He lit up his magic to illuminate the forest and saw that she, too, was red.

"_You _kissed me!" she said, a bit too loudly.

He shook his head. "I did no such thing."

Kel gulped and looked down. "But… do you like me… back?" she stuttered.

He lifted her chin so she looked into his green eyes. He kissed her gently, wrapping his arms around her waist. "Does that answer your question?" he said breathlessly when he pulled back.

Her face became as red as a tomato. But she shook her head. "I don't think it does." She smiled crookedly.

Neal kissed her sweetly and firmly, ensuring that she got the message. He broke the kiss and said ," we should probably go back to the palace." He looked at his feet in hope to hide the redness of his face.

"We should. Before a spidren comes along and eats kittens in front of me." And so they left, forgetting about the ghost she was following and Neal's abrupt appearance.

* * *

><p>As they walked the palace halls, there was an odd glow ahead. Neal said something she didn't understand and green fire enveloped the couple.<p>

"Excuse me sir, I hear there's a loop hole for the lost wanderers. D'you mind giving a lad a hand?" The boy held up a green lantern. His hair was red and his eyes were brown. Freckles dusted his face.

"How can you- ," Neal started.

"Oh, I'm a ghost. I can see through spells," the boy explained hastily. "So what's the secret?"

Neal looked at Kel and said "True love."

"Where do I get that? I've no heart!" the red-head said.

"You can find it in the forest," Kel joked.

"I've been in there for ages!" he protested.

"Just keep waiting," Kel urged.

"If you say so," the boy said, disbelieving. He walked down the hallway and muttered about how he was supposed to find 'true love'.

"Do you know that man?" Kel asked, pulling him along.

"I guess he's Will of the Wisp," Neal said, shrugging.

* * *

><p>But as soon as Neal and Kel were out of earshot, the red-headed boy cackled. "Two more hearts merged together," he said happily. "Will o' the Wisp strikes again!" He put his fingers to his lips. "But I must say that I enjoyed her lips." He smirked. "It's a shame that so little girls come into my forest."<p>

* * *

><p><strong>(AN) Hi there! I read this again and I was all. 'Whoa! I wrote this? There are so many mistakes!' So I went over to rewrite it (obviously) and here is my completely revised version! Tadaa! The story line is a bit changed but it must be done xP **

**Thank you so much for reading! I hope you enjoyed the new version! Also, please review! I love hearing feedback… or **_**reading**_** feedback xP**

**Warmest Regards,**

**Nell **


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